1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to apparatus to facilitate the loading of railroad ribbon rails on rack cars of a rail train and in particular guides for guiding ribbon rail onto shelves of the rack cars and shoes for guiding the front end of the ribbon rail therethrough.
2. Description of the Related Art
Modern railroad tracks are constructed using long sections of ribbon rail which presently may be up to 1600 feet in length. These sections of ribbon rail are formed by butt welding multiple sticks of rail, which traditionally come from the steel mill in thirty-nine foot or seventy-eight foot lengths. The welding of the ribbon rails is done at a welding plant and the welded ribbon rails are transported to their installation site on a specially constructed rail train. The rail trains include a plurality of rack cars or rail rack cars, each typically having two racks of shelves.
Prior art rail trains traditionally comprise of a plurality of 60 foot rack cars connected together by standard railroad couplers. Each car includes a pair of transverse stands for supporting the ribbon rail. The stands of each car are spaced 30 feet apart and 15 feet from the respective coupler such that the stands are spaced 30 feet apart along the length of the rail train. The stands each include multiple tiers or shelves (typically five or six tiers) which each tier supporting a plurality of rails (for example eight to twelve rails per tier). The space in which an individual stick of rail is supported on each shelf may be referred to as a pocket. The stands must each be strong enough both to support the weight of the rails and to resist side loads created by flexing of the ribbon rails as the rail train traverses curves in the track. Sidewalls of each stand constrain the rails on the shelves. Thirty foot spacing for the stands is believed to be optimal for supporting the rails without excessive sagging.
One car in each rail train is a tie-down car including a specialized stand which includes means for fixing the rails to the racks to prevent longitudinal movement of the rails relative to the tie-down car. All the other racks in the train allow for relative longitudinal movement of the rails and may include rollers which support the rails. This relative movement between the racks and the rails is required in order to allow the rails to flex without stretching or compressing as the train traverses curves in the track, as well as to allow for coupler slack that exists in each of the couplers between cars.
The rails are loaded or threaded onto the rail train and across the shelves of the racks by a powered drive system. Considerable effort is required to carefully thread each rail into a desired pocket on each shelf. Loading the first rail on each shelf is the most difficult as it is difficult to thread the rail through the desired outer pocket of each rail support shelf, particularly when the rail train is setting on a curved section of track as the end of the rail wants to move in a straight line and the front end tends to sag. A common practice to assist in guiding a rail through the selected pocket on the rack car shelves is to mount a pointed shoe on the end of each rail, but it is still difficult to keep the stick of rail traveling in a curved path if the train is curved. Once the first rail is loaded on each self a guide arm can be attached to a shoe mounted on the leading end of the next rail to be loaded with the guide arm having a receiver positioned over the head of the previously loaded rail to slide therealong as the next rail is loaded so as to guide the end of the rail being loaded in alignment with the desired pocket of each shelf and to maintain proper spacing between the rail being loaded and previously loaded rail. Because there is not a previously loaded rail to use in guiding the second rail in place, workers may have to use pry bars and the like to redirect the end of the rail through the desired pockets and prevent the end of the rail being loaded to extend outside of the sidewall of the support rack across which it is being loaded.
There remains a need for an improved system for guiding rails being loaded onto the cars of a rail train and in particular onto the rail rack cars of a rail train.